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S3 Compatible Storage
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A Faster Alternative to Backblaze: Boost Performance and Cut Cloud Costs

28.08.2025

8

Minutes
Thomas Demoor
CTO Impossible Cloud
Eliminate egress fees and complex tiering to achieve up to 20% faster backups and reduce total cloud storage costs by 60-80%.

Cost unpredictability remains the number one pain point for most enterprises using cloud storage. Surprise egress fees and complex pricing models from major providers erode budgets, making ROI calculations nearly impossible. Organizations feel trapped by vendor lock-in and slow data restores from tiered storage, creating strategic risks. The solution is an S3-compatible alternative that delivers performance, transparency, and data control. Impossible Cloud offers an "Always-Hot" object storage model, providing up to 20% faster backup performance and eliminating 60-80% of typical cloud storage expenses through a zero-egress-fee policy.

Key Takeaways

  • An "Always-Hot" storage architecture can improve backup and restore performance by up to 20% compared to tiered storage models.
  • Eliminating egress fees and API call charges can reduce total cloud storage costs by 60-80%, ensuring predictable budgets.
  • Full S3 compatibility with features like Object Lock provides a drop-in replacement for existing workflows and strengthens ransomware protection.

Escape the Hidden Costs of Cloud Storage

Many enterprises discover that egress fees and API charges can inflate their cloud bills by 3-5x over the storage costs. These variable expenses make budget forecasting a significant challenge, with a single 10 TB data transfer costing hundreds of dollars. Traditional cloud models often include charges for moving data between regions or even availability zones, adding layers of unexpected costs. This pricing complexity is a primary driver of vendor lock-in, making it prohibitively expensive to switch providers. A transparent pricing model without these fees is the first step toward regaining financial control. This approach simplifies billing and directly addresses the need for predictable cloud costs.

Boost Backup Performance with an Always-Hot Architecture

Slow data recovery can halt business operations, and complex storage tiers are often the bottleneck. An "Always-Hot" object storage model ensures all data is immediately accessible, eliminating restore delays and the fragile policies associated with tiering. This architecture delivers up to 20% faster backup and restore performance compared to traditional cloud storage. Low latency is a critical metric, with some high-performance systems achieving response times of just a few milliseconds. This consistent, low-latency performance keeps third-party backup tools and applications running predictably. By avoiding tiering, you remove operational complexity and hidden restore fees entirely. This model is engineered for consistency and scale, handling millions of small files as efficiently as large archives.

Achieve Seamless Integration with Full S3 Compatibility

The ideal cloud storage solution should integrate into your existing workflows without disruption. Full S3 API compatibility allows you to use your current apps, scripts, and tools without any code rewrites, protecting past investments. You can find many S3-compatible storage providers that support enterprise workloads. The migration process is simplified to just changing the endpoint while keeping everything else the same. An enterprise-ready platform must support advanced S3 capabilities, as outlined below.

  • Support for versioning and lifecycle management policies.
  • IAM with MFA/RBAC for granular, role-driven access control.
  • Object Lock and immutable storage for ransomware protection.
  • Event notifications to trigger automated workflows.
  • Compatibility with leading backup tools out-of-the-box.

This drop-in replacement capability minimizes migration risk and accelerates your time-to-value.

Strengthen Ransomware Defense with Immutable Storage

With ransomware attacks increasingly targeting backup infrastructure, immutable storage has become a non-negotiable security layer. Object Lock technology makes backup data unchangeable, preventing it from being encrypted or deleted by malicious actors. This feature is a key component for business continuity and is often a requirement for cyber insurance policies. Systems with immutable storage write encrypted files as new data, leaving the original objects untouched and recoverable. Impossible Cloud combines multi-layer encryption with Immutable Storage to provide a resilient defense. This security posture is verified by enterprise-grade compliance certifications, including SOC 2 and ISO 27001, ensuring your data is protected without vendor lock-in.

Empower MSPs with Predictable Margins and Simplified Operations

For Managed Service Providers, unpredictable costs directly erode profit margins on BaaS and DRaaS offerings. A cloud backup solution with a zero-egress-fee model provides the cost predictability needed to quote with confidence. This structure allows MSPs to pass savings to customers or increase profitability on existing contracts. A partner-ready platform should also provide key operational tools. Here are some essential features for MSPs:

  1. A multi-tenant console for managing multiple clients securely.
  2. Automation capabilities via a full-featured API and CLI.
  3. Granular reporting for billing and compliance.
  4. Fast and simple onboarding processes for new customers.

This combination of predictable economics and robust management tools gives MSPs a significant competitive advantage.

Build a Future-Proof Exit Strategy

Vendor lock-in is a top concern for IT leaders, but a built-in exit strategy preserves long-term freedom and negotiating power. The key is a combination of open standards and cost-free data portability. S3-compatible APIs ensure your data is not tied to a proprietary format, allowing for seamless movement between platforms. The absence of egress fees is the most critical component, as it removes the financial penalty for retrieving your own data. This design philosophy ensures you maintain full control over your data assets. By choosing a platform built on interoperability, you can adapt your storage strategy as business needs evolve without facing prohibitive exit costs. Now is the time to evaluate a faster alternative to Backblaze that puts you in control.

FAQ

What is 'Always-Hot' object storage?

Always-Hot object storage means all your data is stored in a single, high-performance tier that is always immediately accessible. This eliminates the delays and extra fees associated with retrieving data from slower, cheaper archive tiers, simplifying operations and speeding up restores.


How does Impossible Cloud save users 60-80% on costs?

The cost savings come from our transparent pricing model. We have eliminated egress fees, API request charges, and minimum storage duration fees, which are common hidden costs that significantly inflate bills from other cloud providers.


What does S3-compatible mean for my existing tools?

Being fully S3-compatible means you can continue using your existing backup software, applications, and scripts without any changes. You simply point your tools to the Impossible Cloud endpoint, and they will work as expected, ensuring a seamless transition.


How does Object Lock protect my data from ransomware?

Object Lock creates an immutable copy of your data, meaning it cannot be deleted or modified for a specified retention period. If ransomware encrypts your files, your original backups in Impossible Cloud remain safe and untouched, allowing for a quick and reliable recovery.


What compliance certifications does Impossible Cloud hold?

Impossible Cloud is enterprise-ready and holds key compliance certifications, including SOC 2 and ISO 27001, to meet the needs of organizations in regulated industries.


Is this service suitable for Managed Service Providers (MSPs)?

Yes, our platform is designed for MSPs. With predictable pricing for stable margins, a multi-tenant console, and full automation via API/CLI, MSPs can easily deliver competitive and profitable Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) solutions.


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